Johnson & Wales University plans to fully renovate a major residence hall on its Charlotte, N.C. campus to accommodate a mixed-use of housing and student services. The 97,000 square-foot building, currently called “The Maple” and previously managed as the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel, will be completely overhauled with new mechanical and building systems and infrastructure, 150 rooms for upper-class students (with a potential occupancy of 276), an admissions welcome center, and a central location for student services.

The project is expected to take approximately two years to complete, and the expected investment by the university will be around $42 million, funded through a combination of investment reserves and philanthropy from individuals, corporations and foundations. The university will work with 3Ten Construction, a commercial contractor based in Charlotte, N.C., and Little Diversified Architectural Consulting, also based in Charlotte, N.C. Both firms have completed early-phase work on the project.

The Doubletree purchase aligns with its curriculum. The Charlotte campus offers a 90-credit, three-year Hospitality Management degree program under the University’s current accreditation, making it the first in the Southeast to offer such a degree.

The Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort & Spa has been sold to Hersha Hotels and Resorts, a KSL portfolio company. Brookfield Properties was the seller. Brookfield oversaw an $8 million revamp in 2023.

JLL represented Brookfield in the transaction, highlighting the third time JLL has sold the asset in 10 years. The JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group team was led by Andrew Dickey, Maciej Polek and Derek Hayden.

The property features 403 guestrooms, more than 51,800 square feet of flexible indoor and outdoor meeting venues, five food and beverage outlets and an extensive amenity package that includes an 18-hole championship golf course designed by Robert Cupp and Sam Snead, a 17-treatment-room Heavenly Spa by Westin, pool with river views, tennis and pickleball facilities and an 18-hole disc golf course.

The adjacent Savannah Convention Center completed an $276 million expansion in April 2025

The Sonesta Extended Stay Hotel in southwest Charlotte was sold to a New York-based nonprofit on Feb. 12 and is reportedly earmarked to become housing for veterans.

Marcus & Millichap announced it had brokered the sale, representing the private seller. The announcement declined to name the buyer, but Mecklenburg County records lists the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation as the owner.

The 75K SF property sits on 3.39 acres at 7925 Forest Pine Drive off Interstate 77.

WSOC-TV reported last October that the Staten Island-based Tunnel to Towers Foundation was looking to purchase and renovate the hotel site into 117 apartment units for veterans.

The foundation states it offers several programs to assist military veterans and former first responders, including constructing smart homes for those who have been injured, providing mortgage-free homes to families with young children who have lost a parent in the line of duty, and working to end homelessness among the veteran community.

The foundation pulled in revenue of $559M in 2024 with expenses at $381M, according to the organization’s 2024 IRS 990 form, published by ProPublica. Its total assets were $653M at the end of that year.

In mid-2024, the foundation was tied to a post-bankruptcy filing of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani’s lawyers disclosed that he was receiving just over $16K a month in income from his internet show and that the money was coming “mainly” from the nonprofit, according to a New York Times report.

Creditors sought subpoenas to further understand the nature of the financial agreement between the politician and the charity, Law & Crime reported.

The foundation did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this story. 

Development firm Gateway Jax will restore the Ambassador Hotel with the partnership of The Indigo Road Hospitality Group. Gateway Jax, made up of DLP Capital and JWB Real Estate Capital, manages a private equity fund focused exclusively on Downtown Jacksonville development.

Gateway Jax plans to redevelop the 100-year-old hotel into a minimum of 100-key concept with a restaurant and bar, conference space and other amenities. The Ambassador Hotel site will be integrated into Gateway Jax’s inaugural project, Pearl Square. The eight-block, multi-use development will also include 1,250 new residential units and approximately 200,000 square feet of grocery-anchored retail space, with abundant outdoor dining opportunities. The project’s first building, located at 515 Pearl Street, broke ground in October 2024 and is on track to deliver in 2026. Several other projects within Pearl Square will begin construction in 2025.

Gateway Jax is expected to invest over $2 billion into the Pearl Square development.

Partners Capital bought the Courtyard by Marriott Atlanta Buckhead for $24.25 million. The 181-room hotel is off Peachtree Road in the central business district. The seller was RLJ Lodging Trust. The Buckhead Courtyard, built in 1996, has about 1,500 square feet of meeting space and was recently renovated.

The Atlanta Business Chronicle reports Partners is building a portfolio of hotels in top Sunbelt markets through its Hospitality Fund 1, which launched in June 2023. The Buckhead Courtyard was its second acquisition, following the purchase of a Hilton Garden Inn in Austin, Texas.

Partners Capital’s current portfolio includes more than 1.4 million square feet of properties in Texas and across the Southeast. The company’s website says the company has completed more than $600 million in transactions through multiple investment funds over the past eight years.

Hotelier Rajesh Aggarwal is planning to build a hotel on 1407 Division St. adjacent to the Best Western Plus Music Row hotel. The project will include a 191,150-square-foot building with 222 hotel rooms.

Aggarwal owns the 1.27-acre property, which includes the existing Best Western Plus. The proposed hotel will rise on a portion of the 0.61-acre site, which currently holds a surface parking lot for the neighboring hotel.

The Nashville Business Journal reports that Nashville’s hotel market continues to boom, with the city second only to New York in the number of hotel rooms set to open in 2025. Of the 2,849 rooms set to open in Nashville this year, most fall in the upper midscale and upscale classes. Music City has been hit by a wave of luxury offerings, with the openings of hotels like the Four Seasons Hotel Nashville, SoHo House Nashville and 1 Hotel Nashville.

The project is seeking final site approval when the Metro Planning Department meets in April.

A mystery buyer has apparently agreed to buy $725 million in debt on two of San Francisco’s largest hotels, reported the San Francisco Business Times. The 1,921-key Hilton San Francisco Union Square and 1,024-key Parc 55 San Francisco have been under court-appointed receivership since the fall of 2023, after owner Park Hotels & Resorts handed back the keys.

Eastdil Secured began marketing the debt on the two connected properties this past July. At that time, the two properties were appraised at roughly $554 million by Kroll Bond Rating Agency, a drop of more than $1 billion from their appraised value when the debt was originated.

The Business Times reported that the terms of the sale were still under discussion and the deal has not been finalized. The receiver is under a March 31 deadline to complete the deal or the debt will go back to lender JPMorgan for foreclosure.

Reade Hotel Capital paid $57.5 million for Embassy Suites Nashville at Vanderbilt, which the Nashville Business Journal reports is nearly $9 million less than what it sold for a decade ago.

The hotel, owned by investment trust Moody National Reit II Inc., is located at 1811 Broadway on 1.25 acres.

Moody National Reit II paid $66.3 million for the Embassy Suites in June 2015. With 208 rooms, the pending deal is equivalent to around $276,442 per room.

On its website, Reade Hotel Capital describes itself as a hotel investment company that targets the acquisition of first-class assets across the country. The firm owns two hotels in New York and one in New Orleans.

Downtown’s 1 Hotel and Embassy Suites sold to Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. for $530 million last year.

Urban Street Development and Berkadia secured $38.5 million in permanent and construction financing to fund the expansion of the Hotel Indigo Tallahassee – CollegeTown. The project at 826 Gaines Street, is near Florida State University.

Urban Street recently bought an adjacent .43 acre parcel in order to add on to the hotel. The hotel is expanding from 143 rooms to 237 and 5,500 square feet of prime ground floor retail at the roundabout entrance facing Doak Campbell Stadium.

Brad Williamson, Mitch Sinberg, and Harry Mancera of Berkadia Hotels & Hospitality, arranged the financing package on behalf of Urban Street. Synovus Bank provided the five-year loan which includes funds to refinance Phase 1 of the seven-story, mid-rise hotel – 143 rooms completed in 2020 – as well as construction of Phase II, 94 keys slated to deliver in 2026. Construction of Phase II has already commenced.

Noble Investment Group will build a four-story, 55,082-square-foot StudioRes by Marriott, an extended-stay hotel with 124 rooms, in the Collins Town Center north of Costco Wholesale. The company expects the project to cost just under $10 million. The brand is Marriott’s most affordable product.

The Jacksonville Business Journal reports Noble purchased the land for what will become the hotel at 8045 Parramore Road last summer for $2 million.

Noble also purchased the Courtyard Jacksonville Beach Oceanfront in July for $26.1 million. McKibbon Hospitality of Tampa will manage the beachfront hotel, making it the 33rd property it manages for Noble.

Marriott International broke ground on its inaugural StudioRes brand hotel in Fort Myers in January. Concord Hospitality is developing the Southwest Florida property, which is slated to open in spring 2025.

The hospitality group expects to develop 50 StudioRes properties across several submarkets in major U.S. cities. StudioRes focuses on the short-term rental market of stays exceeding 20 days.